Civitavecchia

Civitavecchia is a harbour on the Tyrrhenian coast northwest of Rome. Its ancient predecessor, Centumcellae, developed around the port enlarged by Emperor Trajan in the early second century. After repeated raids in the early Middle Ages, inhabitants returned to the old coastal site and rebuilt it under the name Civitas Vetus.

The popes granted the town to various lords, including the Di Vico. In 1431 Pope Eugene IV sent Cardinal Giovanni Vitelleschi and his commanders to recover it; thereafter it was governed as a papal possession by a vicar and a treasurer appointed to administer the town. Its harbour became Rome's principal port, and in 1696 Pope Innocent XII declared it a free port. French forces occupied Civitavecchia in 1806 during the Napoleonic era.